The Final Truth
by hellonwheels04
Summary: J/I piece with a bit of angst. What really happened in Panama during A Dark Turn. I would absolutely love some reviews, good or bad. First attempt I've made at writing a J/I piece. Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters. They belong to J.J. and ABC.
1. Chapter 1

**The Final Truth**

Chapter One

Jack couldn't help but stare as Irina deftly slipped the shirt off her shoulders and then slowly lowered her bra strap. Was it a game? Another seductive ploy to her endgame? His eyes met hers momentarily as he brought the scalpel to her shoulder blade and began to cut. "Of course, Kendall would have me court martialed for this."

Irina didn't move or flinch as she felt the cool metal cut through her skin. "Kendall is not as smart as you are." She wouldn't allow it to show but her heart was heavy with what tomorrow would bring. Another betrayal.

"Got it." Jack turned and placed the transmitter on the table. When he looked back, she was staring at him. He'd seen that look a million times before and knew what it meant. Jack's lips were pursed, waiting for her to speak, unsure of what he was doing. He noticed a faint trail of blood showing through the bandage on her shoulder. "You okay?" _What the hell are you doing? _He immediately cursed himself for the reflex reaction.

She glanced over her shoulder and a smile danced along her lips. "This is nothing." Irina's eyes narrowed, trying to read him. The air was heaving with twenty years of unspoken words. "We need to be up early."

"Yes." Her eyes are searching his. Questioning and probing but he won't give. Jack knows the mask is in place and he gives away nothing. They don't betray the desire that is steadily mounting.

"We should… get to bed." It came out as more of a question. Testing. Challenging. Irina's eyes fell to his mouth. His lips looked inviting, warm, and she was all but desperate to feel them against her own.

Jack's eyes swept over her face. It was another game and she had underestimated him again. He had spent years analyzing every second of their lives together. They would both play this game. "Yeah, we should." Jack's words were calculated and precise and he slowly leaned in. He watched with satisfaction as Irina's eyes closed and she leaned in but it was him who closed the gap quickly. Jack would never admit it but he needed her.

His plan was to keep his emotions at bay. Years of turmoil and hate had begun to seethe to the surface but when their lips met, it was electric. Jack could feel himself lowering her onto the bed, his hand tangled in her hair, slowly losing control. She was Laura, the loving wife, and she was also Irina. The single woman who embodied every failure as a father, husband, and agent.

Irina gasped as his tongue entered her mouth and his weight settled on top of her. She quickly yanked the shirt from his slacks and her hands found their way to his chest and her fingers ran through the hair she found there. Irina gasped as Jack began to trail kisses down her neck and couldn't stop the smile from forming as he hit the familiar ticklish spot.

He found the spot behind her ear and took advantage of the distraction. Jack quickly grabbed his Glock from the nightstand; the sound of the hammer cocking back quickly stopped her from writhing beneath him. "You're not the only one who can use sex as a distraction, Irina," he stated coldly. Jack hated that his arousal betrayed him but quickly ignored it.

Irina slowly moved her hands above her head, jaw clench as the cold metal poked into her temple. "What the hell are you doing, Jack? Are you going to shoot me?" Her voice held a taunting lilt she knew would infuriate him.

"It would probably be the best decision I've made in years," he deadpanned. "What is your plan for tomorrow?"

She rolled her eyes in annoyance and lazily clasped her hands together. "We've gone over the plan a million times-"

Jack's fingers quickly closed around her throat and he shoved the gun under her jaw. "Do not lie to me again." His voice cracked. "You lied to me for ten years. You betrayed me, you betrayed our _daughter_,and I will not allow you to do it again. Tell me the truth. _Now_."

Irina clenched her jaw. "Truth takes time, Jack."

"Don't feed me that bullshit!" His hand squeezed tighter and he could feel her begin to struggle for breath and it was satisfying. "Either tell me what your plan with Sloane is or I put a bullet through your fucking skull and tell Kendall you tried to escape."

When his grip finally loosened, Irina began coughing and struggled for oxygen. Gasping for air, her eyes were defiant as he waited for an answer. She was caught with no way out and she should've known better. He knew her; he could read every body movements in more way than one. "Fine. What do you want to know?"

He lowered the gun slightly when his breath caught in his chest. "Are you leaving?" Jack's heart fell as he watched the walls crumple in front of him. She was laid out before him, underneath him, and all the defenses were down. "Are you leaving me again?" Irina was a slippery slope and he was falling again.

Eyes growing sad, Irina slowly met his gaze. "Yes."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Irina watched intently as the mask fell to the side momentarily. A sudden array of emotions played across his face and she couldn't tell exactly what they were. Guilt? Sadness? Anger? In that brief second, she could finally see the man that she had been married to for ten years, and was happy to know he wasn't completely gone.

"Why?" His voice was gravelly and harsh.

"Because it has to be done," she answered quickly. Irina's tone held nothing more than fact and it was something she couldn't expect him to understand.

Jack shifted his weight so that she was completely pinned underneath him and lowered his grip to the hollow of her neck. "Because it has to be done." He echoed her words, tauntingly. "Just like having a child with me had to be done so you could complete your mission? Using me is one thing, Irina, but I never took you for a woman who could sell her daughter down the drain twice in a single lifetime. I guess you still hold a few surprises, don't you?" He wasn't quick enough to catch the palm that suddenly burned a path across his cheek, leaving a blazing mark.

"Shut the hell up," Irina growled. At this point, there was nothing to lose and she didn't care that he had a gun to her head. Her hand stung from the impact. "You have no idea what you're talking about. If you could even fathom the things that Sloane will do to get ahold of the Chosen One, then you would understand why I have to leave."

"The Chosen One? This is all about some idiotic prophecy?" He could feel the angry welt on his face pulsating but refused to show how much it actually hurt. "What is this sick obsession you have with him?"

"Jack, we both know you've never had much faith in the unseen but you have to understand. I'm doing all of this to protect, Sydney. To protect our daughter." She only received a blank look in response and could feel her annoyance growing quickly. How could such a brilliant man be completely obtuse at times? "I am not the Chosen One, Jonathan. It's Sydney."

He inwardly cringed when she used his full name. Laura was the only one who had ever called him that. "It can't be." But when he looked into her eyes, he knew she was telling the truth and the gun dropped a little more.

As his pistol fell to the side, Irina seized an opportunity. Wrapping her legs around his waist, she quickly flipped them and twisted his wrist back; eliciting a cry of pain, and the gun fell to the floor. Irina caught Jack's other arm and pinned it when he swung blindly in her direction. "I don't want to fight you," she muttered as they struggled for control. "I just want to talk without a loaded gun being pointed in my face." They continued to struggle and Irina kneed him hard in the ribs. "Stop fighting me! I will tell you what you want to know, just stop."

Jack stopped struggling and clenched his jaw angrily. "Tell me your plan." He mentally berated himself for letting his guard down the way he had. "Why did you come back and turn yourself in?" When she shifted her weight and rubbed against him, it took Jack all the control he had not to flip them again.

"I was stuck working under Cuvee in search for more answers about Rambaldi and I needed to leave his operation. He was sure that I was the Chosen One and wouldn't let me out of sight but I knew it was Sydney, not me." Her breathing was labored from their struggle, chest heaving. "The CIA had intel I needed and vice versa. I had to be sure it was her so I could protect her."

"What about Kashmir?" he interrupted.

Irina was exasperated with the barrage of questions. "You were there, Jack."

"No. I meant the first time you were there," he stated quietly. "Why were you held prisoner after the extraction?"

The question caught her off guard and she stared at him with suspicion. "I don't want to talk about that. It was a long time ago."

Jack knew it was a decision he would probably regret later but he could still feel her kiss. The way she straddled him was distracting and his anger was quickly being replaced by sadness. He reached up gently pushed aside the material of her shirt. When she didn't stop him, Jack softly traced the scar he had noticed the night on the train. "Why were you there?" he repeated.

She shivered under his touch. "I was suspected of being a traitor."

"Why?" His fingers continued to outline the old bullet wound.

Irina's anger flared. "You know why," she answered in frustration.

Jack's eyes searched hers. There had to be something there, some kind of truth that he sought. "I need to hear it, Irina." When her look became defiant, his hand moved to her face, pushing back the hair that clouded her vision. "Please."

The pain etched across his face made Irina's heart ache and she knew that she owed Jack this much. "I had been feeding the KGB just enough intel to keep them interested but it was getting harder to do my job, the longer I held onto my life with you. They suspected that I had fed them false leads and that I was in allegiance with you." How much of the truth could she tell him? "They thought I had fallen in love with you."

He was afraid of the answer but couldn't stop himself from asking. "And had you?" Jack needed to know if the woman he had shared a life with ever loved him. "Did you love me?"

"Laura loved you." The answer was quick and precise as she fought tears that threatened to surface. The look in his eyes broke her and she struggled against the urge to hold him, telling him every truth that she had buried twenty years ago.

"Irina." Jack hated to admit it but he loved the way her name sounded. "Did _you _love me?" He held his breath as he waited for an answer.

A single tear fell as she bit her lip, wondering if the truth would even make a difference after such a long time. "Yes," Irina whispered hoarsely.

Jack's hand found the nape of her neck and pulled Irina down on top of him, lips crashing together. His tongue swept through her mouth and she tasted faintly of Merlot, a taste he had associated with Laura a long time ago, and he smiled. His hands slipped under her shirt and caressed her back, pulling her closer.

She responded to the kiss, desperate to feel every inch of him that she could, but she was afraid that he would regret everything in the morning. Irina couldn't bear anymore of his hate. "Jack, what are we doing?" she mumbled against his lips.

Her voice thick with passion, held a slight Russian lilt he had never noticed before, and Jack found it oddly sexy. He excitedly began to trail kisses down her neck. "Does it matter? We were always good at this," Jack answered into her collar bone.

She sat up in order to protest but Irina held his head tighter as his lips moved to her breast. She gasped when he found her hardened nipple and began to tease her. "I don't want you to hate me tomorrow," she finally gasped.

Jack stopped and cupped the side of her face, pulling her towards him in another deep kiss. "Irina, I've hated you for a lot of things over the years but this is one thing I won't." They were both, for the first time, completely open and vulnerable to each other. "I want to make love tonight and forget that you'll be gone tomorrow." A faint, weak smile crossed his face as he traced her cheek bone. "Please just give us tonight. I want to be with Irina, not Laura." He hated that she was his heaven and hell but the woman in front of him held some kind of bond that could never be completely severed.

She smiled broadly. He had called her by her name and she loved the way it sounded as it rolled off his tongue. Like there had never been a Laura, that it had always been just them. "Okay, Jack." Irina leaned in and kissed him softly. "Let's forget about tomorrow."

Reaching down, Irina quickly pulled the shirt over his head. Her hands fell to his chest as she pushed him to the bed and smiled into their kiss as her hands roamed his body. Jack had filled out since they had first been married and she was appreciative of the muscle underneath her fingertips.

His hands made quick work of her pants and he slid them off her hips, remembering every curve as his hands wandered over her body. Jack's hands moved under the front of her shirt and smiled when he elicited a deep moan. Briefly, it crossed his mind that maybe she was right. Maybe this was a bad idea but as he pulled her closer, Jack remembered that it could also be the last time. This was the first and the last time. The first time he knew her as Irina and the last time that he was able to hold her like this.

When Jack's hands suddenly slowed, Irina pulled back to study his face and saw nothing but worry. "What's wrong?"

The words that followed held more truth than he could ever explain. "I don't want you to go."


	3. Chapter 3

This is the final chapter to the story. Hope you enjoyed.

**Chapter Three**

Irina's eyes fluttered open and pulled his arm closer around her body, moving closer to the warmth Jack provided. They had spent a good part of the night arguing, her screaming in Russian out of pure frustration and him yelling about how Sloane was a crazy bastard but in the end, Jack had been right. She couldn't take him down and protect Sydney all by herself.

In the end, he had agreed to give her the manuscript as long as Irina ingested a passive transmitter. It was a safety net in case Sloane took her captive. They knew Sloane wouldn't kill Irina, she was far too valuable to his operation, but that didn't mean he wouldn't try to imprison her. Jack would active it once he returned to LA so he wouldn't suspect of helping her escape.

They would work together in secret, each of them destroying Sloane from a different angle. Irina could leak information to Jack and he would assign missions to begin crippling Sloane's obsessive search for Rambaldi. If everything went as planned, Sydney would be safe from him. That was all that mattered to both of them.

"Are you awake?" Jack asked quietly. Last night had been incredible and he hated to admit that he needed her but Irina was like a drug. She was powerful and his drug of choice.

Irina smiled and rolled over to kiss him. "I've been awake for a little while," she answered softly. There was a small smile on his face but Irina knew he was using it as a mask. "What's wrong, Jack?" She asked out of courtesy but already knew the answer. Irina was dreading what the day would bring as well.

How could she read him like that after such a long time? Jack smoothed the hair away from her face. "Do you really think this plan will work?"

She laughed and kissed him again. "You're the most brilliant strategist I've ever known and we used to work on mission plans all the time together." Irina's thoughts flickered back to when they had been married and Jack would come to her for advice. She had acted like she knew nothing about the world of espionage but the brainstorming from an outsider had helped. "I've missed working with you like this."

Jack's smile was genuine this time. "We'll make this work." His hand slipped under the sheet and gently caressed the curves he found. "You know, we still have a little bit of time before we meet with the transport."

"Then let's make the best of it."

As the van bumped along the road, Irina sat quietly and buried her hands in her pockets. She wished they had more time. More time for them and more time to get a better plan together but this would have to do for now. In two weeks, they would meet in Munich and begin to establish contact protocols. When Irina caught Jack looking at her, she flashed him a coy smile, remembering the night before.

Jack gave her a small grin, sharing the memory together, and tried to ignore the knot in the pit of his stomach. The new alliance he had formed with Irina wasn't the smartest career move he had ever made. Hell, he didn't even know if he could trust her but if she had wanted him dead, he would be. She had opportunity to kill him more than once in Kashmir but she hadn't. Irina had saved him from the landmine and then helped him escape from Cuvee. Until proven wrong, he would trust Irina and meet her in Munich.

The van came to a stop and Jack resisted the urge to reach for her and had the guards not been present, he would have. They shared another look before the door slid open. The longing in their eyes was evident and as she stepped out, Irina turned back around. She gave Jack one last smile, trying to relay the faith that she had. He didn't smile, unable to shake the sinking feeling that was sweeping through him, but he nodded.

Jack sat quietly as he watched her look to the sky, giving them both the strength they needed. He continued to look as Irina's escape unfolded on the laptop as planned. Right on cue, the satellite feed went dead, and they went after her. Kendall was furious but Jack didn't care, he only prayed that she was alright.

As he and the tactical team approached the limo, Jack secretly hoped she had stayed. That she had chosen to stay with him and figure things out, not chase after Sloane and Rambaldi, but when he opened the door, Irina was gone. Any faith or hope vanished as Jack slowly walked the dock. She was really gone.

He ripped the headset off and threw it to the ground. _Damn it. I shouldn't have let her go. _Jack placed the gun back in its holster. _I shouldn't have let her go by herself. _He ran a heavy hand through his hair and kicked the headset in frustration. _I never should have let her go. _

One of the tactical team members ran over to him. "Agent Bristow, we have to go now."

Jack sadly nodded and dug his hands into his jacket. He felt a piece of paper that he hadn't noticed before and pulled it out of his pocket. The familiar handwriting made him smile and Jack knew their plan would work.

_See you in Munich. -I_


End file.
